Ex-Ukrainian PM Azarov, son suspected of accepting major bribe in 2010

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Investigators from the special investigations department of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Office have officially notified a former prime minister and his son, a former parliamentarian, that they are suspected of accepting a bribe of over UAH 140 million in 2010 for assistance in appointing another person as first deputy prime minister.

The two men are suspected of accepting a bribe and mediation in accepting a bribe, the department's press service said.

A preliminary investigation is underway, it said.

The statement does not specify the names of the former prime minister and former parliamentarian suspected of bribery. Interfax-Ukraine has learned, however, that the men in question are former prime minister Mykola Azarov and his son Oleksiy Azarov.

Mykola Azarov led the Ukrainian government from March 2010 until the end of January 2014, after which he left Ukraine; he is currently residing in Russia. Ukraine has issued a CIS arrest warrant for him over embezzlement of public funds.

Oleksiy Azarov was a member of the Verkhovna Rada of the seventh convocation.